Arne Naevra’s Polar Meltdown
It is rare to capture polemic and pressing issues so simply and yet this iconic image has come to represent the whole climate change debate. It sparks memories of news articles, WWF appeals and school science presentations, effortlessly illustrating a drastic need for action. Taken by Arne Naevra
Excavating the Nightmare: Finding Prince Charming
It was one of the most anticipated reality shows of the decade: A gay Bachelor. The original Bachelor‘s channel, ABC, has long been known for its wholesome family fun (read, white heteronormative fun), and The Bachelor is no exception. The women must remain virginal. The men, good providers. W
Widening the Lens
It’s seventeen degrees and there isn’t a cloud in the sky, which is exactly the kind of weather that Hong Kong is most agreeable in. The sweltering humidity of summer has passed, and this year’s predicted ‘polar vortex’ hasn’t yet set in. I’m making my way down Hollywood
Psychogeography: An Idea for the New Year
In pursuit of mental clarity I once went into a floatation tank. As I drifted into bodiless consciousness under sensory deprivation, I noticed that what was left buried deep under the sediment of my busy mind was not my innermost spiritual being but rather corporate logos, advertising slogans
A getaway to Goa
“You want people to come to India, without having to deal with Indians”, Aishwarya Rai tells Martin Henderson in the Bollywood, Jane Austen spin-off Bride and Prejudice. Henderson’s ‘Mr Darcy’ plans on investing in a 5-star resort to attract western tourists. The resort is to be built in I
All that glitters is not (digital) gold: the uncertain future of Bitcoin
We want to believe today that technology will set us free. Having experienced the immense changes of the technological and internet revolutions, we find the world a freer place today than it has ever been, a world of unparalleled freedom of information. We wonder where the next force of revolutionar
Whatever Happened to Baby Twin Peaks?
There are few shows on television that get to join the cult classics club. Some are comedy trailblazers: Friends, Arrested Development, Community. Others are dramas which either display stellar story-telling such as Firefly, or push the bounds of what we can discuss on television, like UnReal, which
Berlin and the European Identity
At first glance, Berlin might appear to represent everything that the United Kingdom has chosen to reject. ‘A real Berliner is not a Berliner’ reads the romantic graffiti inscription at Warschauerstrasse S-Bahn station. This graffiti was probably the handiwork of an Italian tourist, but
In Defence of Romantic Comedies
When I watched Bridget Jones’s Diary for the first time, I definitely wasn’t its target audience. As a twelve-year-old, I didn’t exactly identify with Bridget’s madcap single-woman-in-her-thirties antics, including answering the phone to her mum with the opener “Bridget Jones: want